PHILADELPHIA — Nick Foles was two questions into a June press conference after a no-hitting mini-practice Monday. Already, the theme for his next 500 days was established.

The first question: Has he taken time to practice sliding?

The second: How about that Colin Kaepernick contract?

The avoidance of injury. The allure of big money.

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The connection.

Kaepernick, the 49ers’ quarterback, just signed an extension worth up to $126 million, pushing his 2014 contract from just over $1 million to $13 million-plus. And at this time next year, Foles will be at the same position to renegotiate, entering the final year of his rookie contract.

Kaepernick has led San Francisco into a Super Bowl and an NFC final, so, well, there’s that. But Foles has been named by Chip Kelly as the Birds’ No. 1 quarterback for “the next 1,000 years,” and in his second season he helped push the Birds to an NFC East championship. Different situations, different franchises, encyclopedias full of small contract print. But one theme: If that contract for a fourth-year quarterback is a precedent-setter, then how can Foles not have that on his mind?

“I was just happy for him,” Foles said. “He’s played really well. I followed him at college when he was at Nevada and I thought he had a great college career. So I was glad to see him be able to provide for his family and do great things.”

At a buck-twenty-six, Kaepernick might even be able to provide for two families. But he never would have made that money had something untoward happened to him in a line of work that has been found to put employees at a certain physical risk.

Foles would probably have to reach a Super Bowl to be involved in financial discussions at that level. But that’s what makes his third NFL season so fascinating. Can he better his 2012 effort, when he ultimately dislodged Michael Vick from the No. 1 quarterback spot and then played in the Pro Bowl? Can he repel any threat from backup Mark Sanchez, who once signed a $58 million deal with the Jets, only to have his career so flatten that he is on a one-year contract with the Birds at $2.25 million? Will he be the same without DeSean Jackson? And will he stay healthy? Thus, the questions about sliding, which was a standard topic in all-conversations-Vick, but which had not been much of a Foles issue.

“Working on it,” Foles said, after the NewsControl Compound OTA. “Working on it. It’s a beautiful grass field. We have a slip-and-slide, so I’ll probably get that before we leave. We are just trying to get everyone working at a high level. So that will be something I get down before the season starts.”

The rampaging pay scale for a useful, young quarterback has crammed Foles in a corner. In order to enter Kaepernick’s price range, he must play well. For that, he has to prepare. To prepare, he can’t be thinking about money, just football.

Everyone else, though? They are allowed to think money.

“We are really working hard here, and I am just cherishing this,” said Foles, who would make less than $1 million in 2015 without an extension. “There are so many times where careers have been cut short. So I am just trying to make the most of it. If I am fortunate to get to that down the road, I’ll be thankful. But I am just thankful now for what I am doing.

“If you start worrying about numbers and you stop worrying about what you’re doing, that’s where you mess up,” Foles added. “I am happy for those guys that they are doing well. But my No. 1 thing is being successful with my teammates.”

So Foles practices as his teammates mention how strong he is looking. After practice Monday, he even stopped for an on-field conversation with Jeffrey Lurie.

Ah-hah.

“I was waiting for that,” Foles said, smiling. “No, we just talked about practice. That will all take care of itself later.”

And it will be a topic every month, every game, every play and, mostly, every collision until then.